Home Away From Home
by Peeta Melark
Summary: "We picked you because you are like them," said a tall, dark-haired woman with grey eyes. Dr. Athena Wyse. She stared at me coldly. "They have power; you have power. Use it."- Jason and Frank are chosen to guard "patients" in a "hospital." But these aren't ordinary kids. They're powerful; but so are Jason and Frank. But will that condemn them to the fate or the patients they guard?
1. Chapter 1

**Jason**

I hated the place the moment I stepped through the doors. Everything was clean and bright and white, and it was way to quiet. My uniform felt too dark, too intimidating. _I_ felt like I was part of some military operation, not a guard at a mental ward. I also thought it was weird that I was a guard. Weren't doctors supposed to be here, not physical trainers and bodyguards? It really _did_ feel like a military operation.

My instructions, given to me in the form of a stack of papers, were pretty clear. I was supposed to guard the patients and train them three times a week. Some of them, I noticed, had extra training. There was Nico di Angelo in room 6.6.6 (the rooms were numbered thusly: floor-hall-room), who was to be trained once _daily_ and also included in the thrice weekly sessions. There was Percy Jackson in room 6.6.4, who was to be trained double that. And there was Annabeth Chase, a girl I wasn't supposed to train more than _once_ weekly. She wasn't allowed to attend the thrice-weekly lessons at all. Piper McLean, apparently unable to speak; I should train her in the art of self-defense four times a week, maybe more. There were instructions on how to deal with each patient and there were ages next to each name.

Percy Jackson—18 years old… _my_ age.

Annabeth Chase—18 years old.

Piper McLean—18 years old.

Nico di Angelo—15 years old.

Those were the bolded names. Under that were a few more.

Leo Valdez—No need for more than a few fighting lessons. 17 years old.

Hazel Levesque—14 years old.

These kids were marked "Not Dangerous." The bolded names were marked as "Highly Dangerous. Must Be Supervised At All Times." That was my job, and that was Frank's job.

Frank Zhang was the other guard. He was a big Asian guy with the meanest face and the sweetest personality. Sure, he looked intimidating, but he hardly tolerated swatting flies. I wasn't sure if he would be able to handle this new job, but he had insisted on coming along.

"Well, well, well," Frank muttered. "Looks like this is a job for our fists, not our compassion."

I shrugged, trying not to let his words get to me. But he was right. We wouldn't need our intellect or stellar conversation for this job. It was pure fists and strength, nothing else.

"Don't talk like that," I commanded, reminding him without saying it that _I_ was in charge. I had been appointed as our Guard Leader, so I was in charge. If I didn't want him talking like that, he wouldn't talk like that. Of course, I wasn't going to enforce that too much. Frank was a good guy, and I didn't want to get on his bad side.

"It's hard not to," he argued, looking at me with his compassionate brown eyes. "I mean, these are _kids_ we're dealing with. They're _our_ age, Jason. Doesn't that disturb you _at all_?"

He was right, again. It _did_ disturb me. These kids were our age, some even younger. Nico di Angelo was fifteen, Hazel Levesque fourteen. I wondered what they'd done to get themselves locked up.

There was a big meeting in the afternoon. The doctors sat around a table, fourteen of them, and Frank and I stood in the front of the room, presenting our plans. Then the doctors explained what was really going on.

"We picked you because you are like them," said a tall, dark-haired woman with grey eyes. Dr. Athena Wyse. She stared at me coldly. "They have power; you have power. Use it."

"Power?" I asked. "What power?"

Dr. Wyse chuckled. "Jason Grace, you control electricity—lightning—do you not?"

I was taken aback. "Well, it's never been proven, but—"

"And you, Frank Zhang." She glared and Frank looked stricken. "Your strength is unmatched."

Frank blushed, shuffling his feet and looking down. "Well, yeah."

"I don't actually think this is any of your concern," I cut in. "I mean, we're here to guard and to train. We aren't your study animals. Got it?"

My voice was deep and menacing, but Dr. Wyse seemed unperturbed as she waved her steady hands dismissively. She looked like she wanted to say more, or like she was waiting for me to say more. Neither of us said a word, and that worked just fine for me. Then another doctor stepped in.

"Well, your job _is_ to guard and train them. But we needed you for your abilities. You'll see why."

With that, we were dismissed. Frank and I meandered down the halls until we found where we were supposed to be. The room was room 6.6.5. Annabeth Chase, if I wasn't mistaken. I looked in and saw a tall, blonde girl sitting in the middle of the floor. She was surrounded by books, and her grey eyes glittered with a hunger for knowledge I'd never seen before. I glanced down at the clipboard, trying to find out more about her.

_Annabeth Chase. Age 18. Abandoned at a young age, brought here. After several months, she began to show signs of vast intelligence and an odd knack for knowing just where she should hit people to knock them down.  
Kill Count: 2. Miss Chase was 14 and 15 when she killed, and in both cases did not appear to know what she was doing.  
Diagnosis: Unclear. _

So she was our first task of the day. We should train her and keep her under control. Great. She'd already had a taste of blood before, so why wouldn't she want more? Suddenly, I didn't feel so eager to go into the room. On the floor, Annabeth read her books innocently, as if she'd never killed anyone ever. The clipboard didn't say _whom_ she had killed.

"All right," I said, turning to Frank with my hand on the door. "Let's go."

**A/N: Yeah. I have other stories to be working on, I know. But I really wanted to write this. Sure, it's kind of a lot of information in one chapter, but I promise the following chapters will be better.**


	2. Chapter 2

There was good news and bad news. The good news was that Annabeth didn't seem upset by our appearance. The bad news… Well, she didn't seem too intimidated. Our presence seemed to be nothing but a minor annoyance, something she would have to deal with later. She turned back to her books without a word, not even giving us another cold glare. Her eyes were frightening, almost like Dr. Wyse's in their color, shape and cold intellect. I shivered.

Frank cleared his throat. "Miss Chase, we're here for your lesson."

She looked up. "Lesson?" Her voice was falsely high, insincere. "What lesson?"

"Your combat lesson," Frank said. Damn, he could be intimidating when he wanted to be. _I_ couldn't choke out a _sentence_ in front of Annabeth, and she was my own age!

Annabeth Chase looked smug as she replied, "I don't need any more of those."

I rolled my eyes angrily. "Just _why_ not?"

"Because I've killed two people." She made it sound like the obvious answer. Then she turned back to her stack of books. I was about to argue when Frank put his hand on my elbow.

"Jason, no," he murmured. "Regulation says we can't force them to do anything. We just have to report disobedience."

Right. Frank was right. I nodded, but my pride was hurt. Why was I being ordered around by this girl? She was only eighteen, like me. If it was because of the people she'd killed, then I would have her beat. The Agency had us trained to be killers too. I wasn't afraid. But then I remembered the clipboard. _A knack for knowing where to hit people to knock them down_. I wouldn't stand a chance.

When we left the room, I heard Annabeth laughing. It made me want to kick down the door and kick her ass. Frank was the only thing holding me back. He grabbed my arm and dragged me down the hall.

"Jason, calm down," he commanded. "We're going around to the other rooms to say hello, okay? That first one was a bust, but the others will like us. We'll, um, just talk to them. Maybe we can get some info on this place."

I yanked my arm away. "We're not _supposed_ to."

Frank shrugged. "Yeah, but who's going to know? We talk to them, and we get to know what's going on."

I shook my head, all kinds of conflict whirling around in my stomach. Should I listen to Frank and break the rules? Did we need to know what was going on in order to do our jobs? Or did we just need to be soldiers, trainers, guards? What was I supposed to do when Frank was _convinced_ something odd was going on? He was my best friend, but I couldn't afford to lose my job—especially since I'd just gotten it.

"Fine," I muttered. Frank grinned, marching in the direction of the elevator. Our first stop was room 5.6.3. It was Piper McLean's room, if I wasn't mistaken. Though I couldn't explain the feeling, I was anxious to meet her. I wanted to know if she was really silent or if someone was forcing her to be so. The forms about her were unclear—some saying she was _unable_, some _unwilling_, one or two saying she was _not allowed_.

The door was exciting compared to the rest. Someone had splattered it with pink and red paint There was a bright, pinkish light streaming through the window on the door, and there was a name scrawled in multiple handwritings on every surface of the door. _Piper McLean_. Inside, there was a girl—eighteen years old, like me—with choppy brown hair the color of chocolate, and kaleidoscope-colored eyes. She was easily the most beautiful girl I had ever seen in my life, but there was something off about her. She was so… sad. As she stood in front of a larger window facing out on a bleak, grey courtyard, a single tear slid down her cheek. She didn't acknowledge it, and I didn't know if she even noticed. She was just so still and sad that I wondered if she was even alive inside anymore.

When I pushed the door open, Piper didn't turn away from the window. As I moved closer, she continued to stare listlessly out of the window, stray tears dripping from those beautiful, beautiful eyes. There was something compelling about her, something that made me want to help her. I figured that feeling would only intensify if I heard her speak. She would have the most wonderful, musical voice. I guess that's why they didn't let her speak.

"Piper, I'm Jason," I said. "I'm here to teach you guys. Is that… okay? And… I'm here to guard."

I was a gibbering mess, and I knew it. I had to get out of that room, away from that girl, or I knew I would tell her everything. I couldn't let that happen, and Frank was already dragging me out. As soon as I got back into the hall, my head cleared. I wondered if Frank had felt it too. Was that Piper's… ability?

We saw so many others that day. There was Percy Jackson, a boy with remarkable hydrokinetic skills; and there was Thalia Grace—my long lost, insane sister—who didn't seem to have any remarkable talent. I was wrong, though. She could do lightning as well as I could, if not _way_ better. Leo Valdez was nothing more than a delusional, overly happy mechanic, and Hazel Levesque was harmless in the fact that she was insane.

"Please," she begged, clinging to Frank's arm. "You _have_ to get us out of here. My brother and I—we're not supposed to be here! Do you believe me? Do you?"

She was so tiny and fragile I thought Frank would break right there and start crying. He was a pretty sensitive guy, always trying to do the right thing. Sometimes, however, the right thing for him wasn't the right thing for everyone else. His morals were wasted on compassion and sickening affection. I was stronger. I had to be. The SPQR Agency had picked _me_ to be our leader, so I had to be our leader. I wouldn't let Frank ruin our jobs for us. We were there to train these murderous kids, not befriend them.

"Frank, come on," I ordered. Frank complied, but Hazel Levesque held fast to his arm with such fear and fire… it would have been useless to shake her off. She was frantic, insane, delusional. She was also fairly pretty for a fourteen year-old girl. She looked like a generic little sister.

"I'm not fourteen," Hazel murmured. I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I'm fifteen." She clung to Frank's arm. "I turned fifteen… I don't remember when. Nico. My brother. He's sixteen now. He's sixteen. Seventy."

"Seventy?" Frank asked, swallowing hard. He looked terrified, with beads of sweat appearing on his broad forehead. He tried to pull away, albeit weakly, but Hazel wouldn't let him.

"Seventy years," she pressed. "Seventy. Seventy. Seventy."

Suddenly, she let go, eyes wide, and backed against a nearby wall. With a heart-wrenching cry of pure terror, she covered her ears and began to sob.

"GO!" she screamed. "They know. They know you're here. Go. Don't talk to us anymore. Pretend… you've never met us. Pretend you don't know what we can do."

"What can you do?" Frank asked. That was when the temperature dropped and the lights in the hall began to flicker. Whatever, or _who_ever was coming next would _not_ be good.

**Suggestions for what happens next? I'm more than willing to take suggestions. Also, I need ideas for what each patient is being held at the hospital for (not counting their supernatural powers). **


	3. Chapter 3

The shadows thickened and condensed around Frank, Hazel and I until we were all but drowned in darkness. Then, all at once, they were gone, leaving us staring at a frail, ghostly-looking boy with black hair and tortured eyes. He grabbed Hazel and shoved her behind him, glaring at us like we were his next kills. He didn't look older than fifteen, but from what Hazel said, I guessed he was her sixteen-year-old brother. Nico di Angelo, was it? He was terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

"Back away from my sister," he said. Something told me we wouldn't be his first kills ever. But he didn't look like he wanted to kill us anymore. Instead, his eyes were fixed on a point ahead, like there was nothing else in the world but him and that point in midair. He looked wild, scared, like nothing I'd ever seen before. In a matter of moments he had forgotten about us and refocused elsewhere. His hands covered his ears and he let out a horrible scream.

Hazel scrambled back. "It's here," she murmured.

"Stay away from me!" Nico shrieked. Whatever he was seeing must not have listened. "Please, don't… Don't hurt me. I'll never use them again! I swear. I'll leave the shadows where they are. Just don't… don't… don't…"

As he began to sob, Hazel got up and grabbed Frank's arm again, crying, "You have to help us!"

I could see nothing, and I could tell Frank could see just as much. Whatever they were seeing was just in their heads. Curious, I thought, that they should have the same delusions. They were brother and sister, though very different in looks, and it made some sense that some—if not all—of their delusions should be similar. Of course, I knew nothing about delusions. I was just a guard, and, though I didn't know it then, a weapon.

"Come on," I said gruffly. "Let's get them out of here, okay? Bring them to the doctors and have them locked up again. They're dangerous. Or at least _he_ is."

Frank took Hazel by the arm while I grabbed Nico di Angelo. He didn't struggle, but he was slowly coming back into his senses. The episode seemed to have drained him. It was almost _incredible_ the way his energy had dropped. By the time we reached room 6.6.6, I was practically carrying him. When I sat him down on the bed, he looked me in the eye and gripped my wrist.

"Are you afraid?" he asked, his voice hardly more than a whisper.

I shook my head. "No."

Nico gave a breathy laugh. "Then start. You think you're here because they want you to guard? Ha. You're here for the same reason _we're_ here. You're just stupid enough that they can let you roam free. Or maybe… maybe they're keeping you as a tool—some kind of war contraption. Dr. Wyse. Oh, she's clever—"

I was about to ask him what he meant, but a doctor plunged a syringe into his arm. His eyes fluttered shut and he fell back against the bed. When I turned, I saw a beautiful young woman with caramel hair and dark blue eyes the color of the midnight sky. Her nametag said Dr. Lovelace.

"What did you do?"

"He'll just be asleep for a while. Dr. Wyse would have done worse, believe me."

"What would she do?" I was pushing my luck, but I was scared. Dr. Lovelace just looked at me sadly and shook her head. She reached out and patted my cheek.

"You're young," she murmured. "You're my Piper's age, aren't you? Eighteen. She's eighteen, but so, so old inside."

Again, I wanted to ask what was going on, but she turned and left the room. On the bed, Nico di Angelo cried out in his sleep. I took that as my cue to go, locking the door behind me. When I looked in, the room was dark. Funny. I didn't remember turning out the lights. I didn't remember _anyone_ turning out the lights.

Frank and I made our rounds to other rooms, but we tried to keep it to simple introductions. There was a girl named Katie Gardner who could make plants grow quickly and healthily. She was, like Piper, a doctor's daughter. Funny… a lot of the patients were.

Leo Valdez (the crazy inventor dude) stared at us like we were some of those aliens from _Star Trek_, his brown eyes as big as saucers.

"You're real!" he cried. Then he looked to the side, scowling. "I know _you're_ not real, so shut up."

There was absolutely nothing standing next to him, but he looked so focused.

"Leo?" I tried to pull him back into the conversation. He looked at me dizzily and then grinned.

"I'm Leo, why?" Jeez, he was nuts.

"Just wanted a chat. That's all. I'm Jason."

"I know." He turned to a workbench that was covered in scrap metal and all kinds of tools—an inventor's dream come true. From the pile, Leo pulled a big sheet of what might have been hammered bronze and a sharp, hot carving tool. He laid the bronze out on the table and wrote quickly and carefully. Then he pointed.

_You are not safe here. They will find out that you are helping us._

"I'm not," I said. At the time, it was an honest statement. Now, that would be a blatant lie. Leo huffed impatiently and turned back to his metal, muttering to whomever he saw beside him.

"I know, I know, but I've got to tell him. He's a good guy, I think, and he might make _you_ go away." He turned the bronze back to me.

_Room B.5.1. _

Basement 5.1? What was in Basement 5.1? I stepped back, not wanting to get caught up in whatever Leo Valdez was trying to get me to do. But there was a nagging in the back of my mind. What was going on here? If the first group training session was going to happen the next day, I wanted to know what was going on. For real.

Frank cleared his throat. "Come on, Jason. Let's go."

For once, Jason followed Frank's lead. His pride might hurt for a while, but Frank had a good head on his shoulders. He'd be able to think clearly no matter the circumstance (well, unless it involved that Hazel Levesque girl), and he'd be good in a fight too.

"Yeah," Jason muttered. "Let's go. Let's go _exactly_ where the crazy person told us to go."

"Where's that?"

"Basement," Jason told him. "Hall Five, Room One."

"All right," Frank agreed. "Let's go."

**A?N: What should be in room B.5.1? I have my ideas, but I'd like to hear yours! **

**Reviews are always nice, but I won't beg for them. I always find it rather flat when authors go "I'll update at_ number of reviews…"**

**Until next time, then!**


	4. Chapter 4

If I said the basement was creepy, that would be a _serious_ understatement. Even Frank uttered a low curse as we exited the stairwell that led to Hall Five. The hall itself was darker than the rest and horribly, horribly neglected. It looked like no one had been there for ages. Room 5.1 was no different. The door was peeling and there were paint chips on the floor, but there was a light underneath it. Cautiously, I pressed my ear against it, making sure it wouldn't creak or make a sound. Sure enough, there were voices.

The first one was low and dangerous, a boy's voice. "Annabeth, you know we can't run."

Annabeth sounded scared and small. "I know. But it's too much. The pain…" She let out a sob. "It's getting worse and worse, and I don't know if I can keep them away."

Them? Who?

The other voice, the boy's voice, said, "I know, I know, but we can't run. Don't suppress it, Annabeth. They won't leave, you know. They're always going to be with you. They're going to whisper and shout until your head feels like it's about to explode. Don't fight it. Don't…" He faltered. "Just don't let yourself become like me."

Who _was_ he? He sounded like a normal guy, but one with very abnormal problems. Annabeth continued to sob, and I heard the sound of their arms wrapping around each other.

"Percy, I can't do this anymore. Every time I'm alone, they come back with a vengeance. If I cram my head with books, I can shut them out, but they always find cracks to whisper through. I can hear them, Percy, both of them."

So this was Percy Jackson, the boy we'd met only briefly. He had refused to speak, and I had assumed he couldn't. But here he was, talking with Annabeth Chase behind a locked door. She sounded hurt and scared and he was comforting her.

"I can hear mine too. My stepdad… my mother… my little sister… I can hear them all the time. But I can hear the other ones too—the ones who were always there. I thought… I thought I could drown them out."

There was a long, heavy pause. I heard heavy footsteps as one of them—Percy, probably—got up and trudged across the room. Then Annabeth sobbed again. There was no movement. Percy hadn't gone to comfort her. I could imagine his face: thin, angular, handsome, cold. He was a killer, wasn't he? He was also insane and horribly powerful.

"I drowned them," he said. "But I couldn't drown them out." There was the sound of someone banging their fists against a wall. I jumped, and I heard Frank curse behind me. Percy continued talking, sounding close to tears himself. "And now they're here. They're with me even now. I can hear them and I don't know what's real anymore."

I heard a dress rustling, and I knew Annabeth must have gotten up. When we had seen her in her room, she had been wearing a long, white dress. I could also hear sandals scraping on the cement floor. Then I heard the both of them sobbing together, probably holding close to one another.

"Annabeth, I love you so, so much," Percy wept. "Don't ever leave me. Please. You're… the only thing keeping me alive."

Frank's hand grabbed my elbow, pulling me away from the door. I knew what he was thinking. This wasn't my moment to listen to. Why had Leo Valdez sent us down here? Did he want us to find a clue, or… did he just want us out of the way?

"Come on," I barked, marching toward the stairs. Frank followed confusedly.

"What's going on?"

"Leo," I said. "We need to see if he's up to something. The kid might not be as crazy as I originally thought."

We marched through the halls until we reached Leo's room. When we opened the door, he was standing with a caramel-haired girl in a Greek-style dress and sandals. She was beautiful in a melancholy way. I didn't remember the files we were given saying anything about her. Maybe she wasn't a patient. But why was she dressed like that, then? When she saw us, she smiled and excused herself from Leo's company for a moment.

"I'm Calypso," she said. "I'm Leo's girlfriend. He, um, believes I'm the girl from the myths, so I let him."

Frank frowned. "Have you ever thought that's _not_ the way to go about it?"

"Why… why not?" Calypso looked offended. I decided to let Frank handle this. He was better with people, with breaking bad news. I was just the brute force (though Frank was the guy with the super-strength).

"Well…" Frank sighed. "From his files, he's got a form of Schizophrenia. You've got to keep him grounded, you know, in reality."

Calypso nodded sadly. "Are you a doctor?"

"I'm a guard," Frank admitted. "But I took some psychology classes when I was training. You need to start dressing normally, Calypso—I'm sure the doctors would say so."

The girl stiffened. "Actually, they told me not to."

Leo started to get agitated. He grabbed my arm and spun me around, repeating under his breath, "B.5.1. Danger. B.5.1."

I patted his shoulder in what I hoped was a soothing manner. "Yeah, buddy, I know. B.5.1. Danger. I got it."

Apparently I didn't have any _idea_ what he was trying to say. He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me violently. For such a skinny kid, he was strong, and his hands were uncomfortably hot—so hot, I thought they might leave burns on my clothes and skin. He looked into my eyes with his wild ones and started to babble almost incoherently.

"It's a trap," he muttered. "It's a trap, a trap, a trap. A trap for you, Grace, and for Zhang."

"How did you—?" Frank stepped forward, but I held out my palm. _Stop_.

"You need to find her," Leo said. "She can help you. Dare. Dare. Dare. Find Dare. She's the one who can see. We're blind, all of us. She's the only one who can see. She's the only one who can—" He shuddered violently, collapsing in my arms. When I touched his forehead, he was feverishly hot. If he'd been anyone but Leo Valdez, I was sure the fever itself would have killed him in an instant. Instead, he seemed undisturbed by the temperature, as if he were only asleep. Calypso took me from his arms and hit a button by the bed.

"GO!" she cried, shoving Frank and I out into the hallway. "The doctors are coming now. Don't let them find you. I'd suggest you go ask Nico di Angelo to help you. He can conceal you and get you to Rachel."

"Rachel?" I asked. "Rachel who?"

"Dare," Calypso stated. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

**A/N: Someone asked for Percabeth, so I wrote some Percabeth. And let me tell you something… I LOVE writing Percabeth. **


	5. Chapter 5

We got to Rachel Elizabeth Dare's room in no time. But we had special, ah, _visitors_, shall I say? The doctors were lined up around Rachel's bed, where she was lying in a sleep-like state. I couldn't tell if she was ill or if she had been given sedatives like the ones I'd seen used on Nico di Angelo. I didn't need to ask. Dr. Wyse seemed to know exactly what I was thinking.

"Jason Grace," she said coolly. "You have successfully passed each and every test I have set out for you, but I'm afraid you still have not passed the most important one of all. You have not managed to make me even _remotely_ like you, let alone enough for _forgive_ you for the disturbances you've caused in my hospital."

"Ma'am," I argued. "I've done only what I'm supposed to. Nothing more."

"Don't lie to me!" she snapped. As I looked at her, I realized how much she looked like Annabeth Chase, the erudite girl with the bad attitude. They had the same grey eyes, curly hair (though Dr. Wyse's was black), and the same cold, calculating smile. Dr. Wyse was paler than Annabeth too, but I was absolutely sure she was her mother. Then why had she locked her up here?

"Ma'am," I said firmly. "I'm afraid I'll have to take you under arrest on charges of—"

I was hit by a force I couldn't see. It knocked me back several feet. My head cracked against the wall and I felt the world slipping away. When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a room that was just like all the other rooms in that damned hospital. The only thing that was different was that _I_ was in it. _I_ was now a prisoner.

My head throbbed in protest as I sat up, groaning. I rubbed my neck and looked around. There was a note on the bed by my feet. It read: _You want answers? I'll _give_ you answers._ Great. Cryptic and stupid, just like everything else. Also… where was Frank?

"Hello?" I called. "Is anyone there?"

No one responded. Then a boy stepped from the shadows. It was Nico di Angelo. I didn't know how he'd gotten into my room, but he was staggering like he hadn't slept, eaten or had anything to drink in weeks. Once the shadows were gone, he collapsed in a heap on my carpet, gasping for breath, horribly pale and weak. As I watched, he curled up in a ball and bit his lip against obvious pain.

"Hey there, buddy," I said, kneeling down and pulling him onto my lap. "It's going to be okay. Shhh! Just don't think about it… whatever it is you're feeling, and I'll find a way to get us out of here."

Nico's eyes widened and he reached out to touch my face. It wasn't an ill-meaning gesture, nor was it one of great fondness. He just seemed curious, as if wondering if this was what actual people looked like. Then he turned to face someone I couldn't see and said, "He's real, Bianca." He giggled. "He's real."

I sat him up against the wall, trying to keep his eyes fixed on mine. But he was gone, too far gone for me to do much. He was like Leo Valdez, the crazy mechanic. Oh gods, Leo! I had to get him out too. I had to get all of them out. I knew… I knew a place where we could go. We could go to the Agency. The SPQR Agency wasn't actually all that fond of the _Olympus Hospital For The Insane_. They thought the name was crude and the tactics even worse. The only reason they let me take the job was because they didn't trust the "_Graecus_." I guess that referred to Dr. Wyse.

"Of course I'm real, buddy," I assured him. "But we've got to go. I can…" I stared at my hands. The lightning. I hadn't used the lightning since… No. I shoved the thought aside and stood up. Nico tried to get up, holding out his hands. Only later did I realize he'd been trying to warn me. I didn't take the warning. I turned to the door and focused on a stormy night. I felt that old power surging into my fingertips, making them feel tingly. I pointed at the door and, with a yell of triumph, shot a bolt of lightning at the center.

It worked. The door burst open. But as I was grabbing Nico and heading for the hall, a pain ripped through my arms. I screamed and fell to my knees while Nico tried to pull me up, keep me running. We had to keep running, didn't we? We had to keep going if we wanted to get the others.

"Basement," Nico muttered. "We have to get Percy and Annabeth and we have to get to the basement. I know, Bianca. I know. I'm not a kid anymore."

I wanted to ask who Bianca was, but then I remembered something from Nico's files. He was ten years old when he was admitted here, because his sister had died and he didn't have anywhere else to go. He had been at an orphanage briefly, but after accidentally killing another kid—a fourteen-year-old boy named Jake—because "Bianca told him to do it," they sent him here, to the hospital. Whoever Bianca had been when she was alive… that girl was gone, replaced by something harmful in Nico's head.

"Nico," I whispered. "I need you to… to tell Bianca you'll talk to her later. Okay? Tell her you'll talk to her later. Just… she can't come with us."

Nico's eyes got really wide. "I've never… She won't do it."

"Why not?" I asked. "Can you just try?"

He shook his head frantically, speaking in a different language to the air—which I could only assume was Bianca. "_Devi lasciare ora, Bianca_." He glanced at me. "_E non tornare._" His voice broke, but he seemed better. He turned to face me. "She says she'll go. But I don't think she'll stay gone."

We ran until we reached Piper's room. Then Nico kicked down the door and ran in to grab Piper. She looked horrified and scared, but as soon as she saw me, she calmed down.

"Percy," she whispered, wincing in pain. "We need Percy."

Nico nodded. I wasn't so sure about that. Percy Jackson's files were more than just interesting; they were absolutely horrible. He had drowned his mother, his sister and his stepfather when there shouldn't have been any water on hand to do it. When the police arrived, they found Percy crouching by the bodies, completely submerged in water, sobbing with his hands over his ears. The pipes were exploded and Percy was completely dry, not a drop of water on him. When they tried to take him away, he drowned two of the officers and nearly knocked out another. In the interrogations, he said there were voices that wouldn't go away. The voices said he would have quiet when he killed the ones who made him Percy Jackson. By the time they took him to the hospital, he was practically unable to speak or function. The only person who could pull him out of it was Annabeth Chase, a girl who had been locked up for her telepathic tendencies.

My internal monologue ended as we rounded a corner, finding ourselves face to face with a dark, windowless door. It was deadly quiet, which didn't make me too comfortable. Nico knocked on the door and pushed it open. Sitting in the middle of the floor, his head bowed, knees pulled up to his chest, was Percy Jackson. Without looking up, he spoke in a low, rasping voice.

"Hello, Jason. I knew you'd come looking for me eventually."

**A/N: I know the story kind of sped up, but I really wanted to get to the good stuff. And Frank's still on guard duty, so we'll se some of those fighting lessons. Don't worry. **

**Suggestions? Comments? Write them in the reviews!**

**Happy holidays!**


	6. Chapter 6

Percy Jackson's voice was like nothing I had ever heard before. I mean, I'd heard _Piper's_ voice, and that didn't impress me as much as Percy's! Percy was powerful, strong and unsympathetic. The voice I heard when I entered the room was almost entirely different than the voice I had heard when I eavesdropped in the basement. That voice had been kind, loving, haunted, and scared. This voice was broken, cold and uncaring. He sounded like one of those murderers on TV—those shows my mother had liked to watch.

"You… knew?" I stuttered. "H-how?"

The boy in the middle of the floor spun to face me. His face was deadly handsome, like a Disney prince turned villain. He was smiling too, like he'd just received the permission to rip my spine out and use it for Christmas decorations. I didn't like it. I didn't like it at all, especially with Frank missing. I could tell Piper was scared too. She grabbed my hand and leaned against my arm, breathing heavily. I thought, for a moment, that she might speak again, but she remained silent. Then I remembered the pain that had come when I blasted down the door. It was probably the same with her speaking. She was charming and her voice was like pure gold. No wonder the doctors wanted to keep her quiet.

"P-Percy…" If I hadn't known better, I would have _sworn_ Nico was blushing. "We just need help getting out of here. That's it."

Percy got to his feet, that creepy smile fading rapidly. "_Just_ that, Nico?" he asked. "That's an awful lot. What makes you think you _deserve_ my help?"

Nico flinched for a moment, but then he straightened up and balled his hands into fists. He didn't look too strong, but I bet his knuckles could do some damage. And if I'd learned anything from the SPQR Agency, it was _never_ judging anyone by their size. Octavian had taught me that important lesson when he broke my nose and had me washing dishes for a week. The SPQR Agency was a tough place, not for the weak or scared. I remembered a girl had been there for a few weeks—a young one, about thirteen years old with dark hair, dark skin and golden eyes. I couldn't remember her name, but it was on the tip of my tongue as if I'd just seen her. She was taken out by some people Reyna had referred to as _Graecus scum_.

"Well, let's see," Nico said, weighing his words carefully. "You were semi-responsible for my sister's death, you never even _apologized_, you made almost everyone hate me in a matter of minutes, and you told _everyone_ everything there is to know about me. I think you owe me."

Percy Jackson shuddered, painful memories washing over him with Nico's words. I wondered if he was a cruel and merciless as he seemed.

"You're right," he whispered, his voice very soft, very hurt. "I owe you."

"Then help," Nico insisted. "Please. I'll…"

This seemed to make Percy mad. He stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of Nico, towering over him menacingly. His voice had lost its pained touch, instead sounding cold and ruthless. "You'll _what_? When have you ever been useful to me, Nico? Was it when you used to play that dumb card game? When you used to follow me around everywhere, begging for a moment of my time? Was it when you started getting distant, turning away from the people who wanted to help you? When you retreated so far into your shell that no one could pull you back? When you—"

"Enough!" said a voice from the doorway. I spun around to see Annabeth Chase, her hands bleeding, her face stoic and her eyes filled with pain. I wondered how she managed to keep her emotions so far back, only visible in those eyes. They really _were_ the windows to her soul. She looked powerful, like the world wasn't even a match for her. I knew that feeling, and I knew it wouldn't last.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried. She eyed him warily.

"Percy." Her voice was cool and just barely touched with fear. "We've got to get Leo and then we've got to get to the others."

Percy narrowed his eyes. "Why Leo?" he asked. Annabeth sighed.

"Because…" She stumbled. "He's the only one who can remove the pain."

I stepped forward as her knees gave out, scooping her up bridal style. I saw Percy Jackson frown, starting towards us angrily. But then he stopped, still frowning, and busied himself pulling at a band on his wrist. When he spoke, it was nothing but a sour mumble.

"Put her on the bed." He pointed. "Over there."

His bed looked way less than comfortable, but it was all we had. I laid Annabeth out on it and Percy knelt down next to her, cradling her face in his hands.

"Annabeth," he murmured. "Annabeth, wake up. Sweetheart, please. Please, please, don't let this be the last time we see each other, okay?"

I wanted to check his pulse, make sure he was breathing all right, because _this_ Percy Jackson was so different from the Percy Jackson I had seen moments before talking to Nico. This Percy was a guy I'd want to know, a guy I'd be friends with. He was kind and loving and gentle, and he had a good enough head on his shoulders. Well… he _was_ locked in a mental hospital for kids with weird powers, so maybe not a _great_ head on his shoulders…

"Baby, I _need_ you!" Percy begged. "Don't be dead. Don't be dead. Don't be—"

Annabeth coughed and sat up, her eyes fluttering open. She looked around blearily, rubbing her eyes.

"Am I…?" She Frowned. "Am I dying? Is this Hell?"

Percy let out a shuddering sob, almost like a cough, wrapping his arms around Annabeth and holding her close. His breath came in strangled, upset gasps as he clutched Annabeth to his heart, crying into her hair. Slowly, her hands came up to grasp his shoulders, stroke his hair, and caress his tear-stained face.

"I thought I'd lost you," he sobbed. "Like I lost them, Annabeth. I thought that somehow I'd k-killed you! How could I… How could I live with myself if you were gone? Annabeth, you're the only thing that's ever kept me alive. I don't think I can be a good person anymore, but you're always there when I need you to… to tell me that you believed in me."

"Shh!" Annabeth pushed Percy away, forcing him to look into her eyes. "Percy, I'll _always_ believe in you because I love you. But we've got to get out of here, okay? We need to get Leo, and we need to get the hell out of this place. You're the only one who can break through."

"Yeah," Nico said, stepping out of the shadows where he'd all but disappeared. "You've broken out once before. We need you to do it again."

Percy Jackson grinned, the tears still dripping from his sea green eyes. "Happy to oblige."

**A/N: Sorry. It's been a busy few days and I haven't really had the time to update, but now I finally have a chapter for all you lovely readers out there!**

**Questions, comments, suggestions? Do you like where this is going? Do you think I should take a moment to delve into the characters' backgrounds? Do you want anything specific to happen? Write all that in the reviews! **


	7. Chapter 7

We broke out of Percy's room without an issue. Finding Leo's room was easy enough too, but it was getting him to leave that was the difficult part. Despite being short and really skinny, Leo Valdez put up a good fight. He had all kinds of devices lying around his room, which was kind of like a workshop, and they all did different things. One of them left a nasty bruise on my left shoulder; another placed a pretty big cut on Percy's cheek. Only Nico remained unscathed, dodging the contraptions and weapons as if he'd done it a million times. All the while, he eyed Percy like he wanted to strangle him. I figured Percy had some information Nico wouldn't be too happy about him sharing, and I got the feeling Percy Jackson wasn't too afraid to share that information.

When Annabeth tried to grab Leo and haul him out of the room, he screamed and fought back with his bare hands. Long nails scratched into her cheek, her shoulder, her side as he tried desperately to get away. I tried to help, but the pain in my shoulder was all but blinding.

"No!" Leo shrieked. "No, no, no! My _tía _would be very upset with you right now! Go away! Just go _away_!"

As Annabeth grabbed his hands, they caught fire—or rather they _burst into flames_. Leo didn't seem to feel it, but Annabeth gave a yell of pain and scrambled back, cradling her injured palms to her chest. Then Leo cried out, clutching his forehead, staggering. That's when Nico and I took hold of him and dragged him from the room. All the while, he kicked and screamed, trying to get away.

"I…" Nico faltered. "I can shadow-travel us to Hazel's room, and then she can find a way to the exit."

"Sure," Percy nodded. Then something in his face darkened. He whirled on Nico, pinning him to the wall by his throat, snarling angrily. "What the hell are you talking, di Angelo? No one's getting out."

"P-Percy?" Nico choked out. "Percy, stop!" He pulled at Percy's hands, trying to remove them from his throat. This only made Percy smile a cold, cruel grin—like one of those papier-mâché skulls I used to be so afraid of.

"What's the matter, Nico?" he asked. "Afraid I'm going to kill you?"

Nico kicked Percy in the stomach, sending him flying against the nearest wall. As Percy crawled to his feet, Nico crumpled to the ground, gagging and grasping his throat. Piper ran forward, tugging Nico to his feet as Annabeth rushed to help Percy. Leo and I stood back, staring at each other warily. Leo didn't look too happy to see me, but he just shrugged.

"No, _tía_," he assured the "person" to his left. "No, he's not a friend of mine. Yes, I've met him. I'm not… I'm not doing anything stupid, okay? I'm going to let you rest now, _tía_, okay? I'm going to give you that sleep you deserve. You tell Mama—" He choked up, a shudder passing through his thin frame. "You tell Mama I love her."

I put my hand on his shoulder. "Are you ready to go?"

Leo fixed me with his large, haunted brown eyes, blinking slowly like a cat showing the beginning signs of trust. I almost contemplated blinking back, but that felt silly. I wondered who this _tía _was too. Was she benevolent, malevolent, neutral? What did she want with Leo? Was she a manifestation of a real person, or was she just someone he had made up for company?

"Yeah," he said, seeming oddly lucid for the first time. "Ready as I'll ever be. Are _you_?"

By that point, Percy and Nico had recovered from their spat. Percy glowered at Nico, muttering under his breath, "Don't think I won't tell, di Angelo."

Nico shrugged, grabbing Leo Valdez by the elbow. "I'm counting on it," he muttered. His face was hard to read, but I could tell he wasn't happy. The corners of his mouth kept twitching downward into a frown, though he tried to suppress it. Tears sparkled in those black eyes, reminding me that, in spite of his harsh, cold nature, Nico di Angelo was still human. He was a human, sixteen-year-old boy.

"There's no time," Leo muttered, holding his head like he was in some kind of pain. Then he cried out, dropping to his knees. "I'm sorry, Mama! I'm sorry! Please… don't… I didn't mean to!"

"Leo!" Annabeth cried. "Leo, can you just get rid of the pain. Disable the Treatment and it'll stop."

"Treatment?" I asked. "What treatment?"

I felt Percy's rough hands grab my arm, whirling me around to face him. He looked angry and scared, and I knew he was in pain from the blood on his lips. He'd bitten them, hadn't he, to stop himself from crying out? Clever… very clever. But not clever enough. I knew the signs of pain, and I could find them in almost anyone. Percy Jackson was no different from any other scared, powerful eighteen-year-old boy.

"The Treatment," he explained. "It's this thing they put into our systems. It's in our food, in our medicine, our water, those daily 'vaccines' they give us." His voice dripped with venom. "Fortunately, our dear mechanic over here can disable it. He thinks it's connected to some kind of machine. Gods, I hope he's right."

"Is he usually wrong?" I asked. Percy scowled.

"Well, he's not always _right_, you know. And he's insane. You think _I'm _insane, don't you? Yeah, you do." He smiled creepily. "Well as insane as _I_ am, Valdez is much worse. He _sees_ things, Jason. He _sees_ them and they torment him like the Voices torment me. The _gods_, I think you'll remember me calling them. You read my files."

He was right. I _had_ read his files. Percy Jackson was pretty damn insane. If Leo Valdez was supposedly crazier, I didn't want to see what that was like! For now, Leo seemed harmless, but Percy sounded like he was scared. My only thought was, _Uh-oh_.

"I can," he murmured, holding out his hand. "But I need your wrists and some tools. They're… in my pockets?" He checked. Luckily, they were. "Okay, hold still a moment, but put your hands in a circle."

He sounded clear and intelligent, but I had no idea how long it would last. I kept stealing glances at Percy Jackson. He was pale and sick looking. Beads of sweat trickled down the sides of his face. Was that _fear_? Still, he held out his hand and nodded for the rest of us to do the same. The only reason _I_ agreed was because I wanted to make the pain go away. I'd felt it once and that was quite enough for me (though thanks for offering!).

"This will hurt," Leo told us, smiling wickedly, a mad glint in his eyes. "Do you trust me?"

I don't know what made me say it, but the words were going before I could stop them.

"I do."

**A/N: What'll happen next? Ooh… sort-of-cliffhanger! Yay! **

**I'd like to apologize for not updating in so long!**

**Suggestions? Also, I've got a new Buffy-Percy Jackson crossover up if you're interested in reading it! It's called "Welcome To Sunnydale, Demigods."**


	8. Chapter 8

Leo Valdez only smiled as he pulled gears, wires and batteries from his many pockets. As he fitted them together one at a time, I wondered what I was thinking. How could I trust a boy that _Percy Jackson_ seemed to be afraid of? And how did I know I could trust Percy? In fact, I was pretty damn sure I _didn't_ trust Percy! His creepy, handsome face, and that low, rough voice… I couldn't be sure if anything he told me was true. I was sure he was a good actor, though. I was sure from the way he would look at Annabeth and smile with love and adoration in his eyes, and the way she would smile back. She looked like she believed him. That hurt me to see. On my honor as a gentleman, I didn't like to see her fooled like that.

"Okay," Leo murmured, holding up a contraption of gears and wires with a long, sharp needle on the end. He grasped several other needles in his free hand. "I know, _bisabuelo_, I know. Tell Hazel you're sorry and get the heck out of here. I'm _trying_. _Si,_ Dad, I got that too. I _know_ I improvised." He wasn't talking to any of us.

Annabeth eyed him warily. "Is that the cure?" she asked, indicating the needles and gears. Leo thought for a moment, pulling his eyebrows together and biting his lip in confusion.

"I… I think so?" He made it sound like a question. "My… my dad says it is. And my _bisabuelo_ says so too." He nodded. "Yeah. It is."

Without warning, he jabbed the needle down into Piper's arm. The gears whirred and she screamed. Deep pink light pulsed under the skin of her wrist, spreading like wildfire. Then, all at once, it stopped and she collapsed, gasping in pain and shock.

"What did you do to me?" she choked out. But she didn't scream after that. There was no pain in her voice aside from that caused by Leo's machine. Leo held it up to the light, examining the small piece of crystal that had attached itself to the end.

"I removed this." He showed her, and I saw her eyes widen in horror. With a small gasp, she scrambled backwards into my arms. I held her close, not sure of what to think. She was beautiful, yeah, and something about her made me feel giddy. It was like we were _meant_ to be… No. No, no, _no_. I wouldn't let myself make the same mistake of falling in love with a beautiful girl—especially not a crazy one.

"Great," Nico di Angelo grumbled. "Who're you maiming next?"

Leo fixed him with a bright, lunatic smile. "You."

"Me?" Nico asked. But before he could ask anything else, Leo stuck a fresh needle on the machine and shoved it under Nico's skin. Shadows issued from his wrist, similar to Piper's pink light. He didn't scream, only bit his lip until it bled and grabbed my arm to steady himself. Then Leo moved on to Percy. Percy didn't scream either, but he was different. He didn't even flinch. His face was perfectly still and calm, and his eyes gave no sign of pain as the light flickered green under his skin.

"Am I cured?" he asked. Leo nodded. "Good."

Annabeth's light was clear and white. She gasped in wonder and murmured, "I _do_ have a soul!" under her breath. I heard Leo explaining that the light represented our _powers_, not our _souls_, but I was too busy panicking to listen. My heart rose to my throat as I watched Leo get closer and closer with that damned machine. Then it was my turn. I held out my arm and waited for the blinding pain. It was even worse than I'd originally thought it would be (and I'd figured it was pretty horrible). Searing pain ripped through my arm, crawling through my whole body. I'd love to say I didn't scream, but I know I did. I know I did because I heard myself scream, but I don't remember actually screaming.

My arm crackled with electricity as Leo removed the needle. He held up the crystal he'd removed and whistled.

"Wow," he muttered. "Look at that!" He showed it to whomever he thought was standing to his right. I couldn't see anyone there. Then he turned back to me, pressing the crystal into my hand. "As a keepsake," he explained.

"Thanks." I put it in my pocket, determined never to look at it again. "Now what?"

Nico grinned, showing straight, white teeth. The canines were long and sharp, almost like fangs, but I pushed the thought back. It was just another thing that made Nico di Angelo creepy. He waved his hand dramatically, pulling the shadows closely around us.

"Now," he said. "We find Hazel and a couple of others and we get the hell out of here."

The shadows closed in around us and we found ourselves in front of Hazel Levesque's room. The door was bolted shut and there was no sound from within. Then there was a soft sniffling sound, like quiet crying. Nico knocked on the door, and I remembered that he was Hazel's brother. His eyebrows knitted together worriedly.

"Hazel?" he called. "Hazel, open up!"

The locks clicked and the door swung open. Hazel stood on the other side, leaning against the doorframe with one thin hand, the other hanging limply at her side. Her feet were bare and covered in scratches from precious gems and metals scattered all over the floor. I did a double take. Why was her floor covered in rough, uncut gems and metals? Was that her power? How was she using it without the pain? Oh… _Oh._ She _was_ in pain; she just couldn't stop her powers. They were too strong and she was too frightened. Oh gods, we had to help her!

"Leo, quickly!" I commanded. Leo lunged forward with his machine, shoving it into Hazel's arm. The light flashed golden and then she collapsed in my arms, presumably from the excruciating pain. She was so tiny, so frail. Now I could see why Frank wanted to protect her. Frank. We had to find Frank before they turned him against us.

"No," Annabeth said. I felt my skin prickle as she did. She was a telepath, so she was reading my mind as she spoke. Creepy. "We need to get Rachel, Will, Katie, Connor, Travis and the twins—Castor and Pollux. We need to get them, and we need to do it _now_."

As we turned to leave, a woman's cold voice said, "I don't think so. You're going to stay right here, like you were supposed to in the first place."

That's when it happened. Someone gave a blood-curdling scream of fury and all Hell broke loose. Of course, we were already in Hell, so what more could happen?

**A/N: I'm planning some real action from now on. This means lots of power usage (like Percy's hydrokinetic abilities and Annabeth's telepathy), lots of craziness and ****_lots_**** of drama. I'm also planning a few deaths, just to see what I can do in the way of semi-canonical deaths. **

**Any demigod you'd particularly like to see? Anything you'd like to happen? Tell me in the reviews and I'll see what I can do! **


	9. Chapter 9

By _Hell broke loose_, I mean everyone went completely nuts. Leo started babbling, covering his ears as he cowered against a wall, Hazel screamed and threw a handful of emeralds at the doctors' feet, the walls cracked and water streamed out in icy torrents, Piper started shouting commands in her sugary sweet voice, and Annabeth threw herself into combat. Nico di Angelo cursed in a different language and threw his hands out to either side. Skeletons emerged from the walls, putting themselves together, clutching pipes and knives made of bone. The kid could raise the _dead_? No wonder they wanted him locked up. Of course, the question of _why_ there were bodies in the wall tugged at the back of my mind. Were they former patients? Were they actually coming from the walls? Why could Nico animate skeletons?

Dr. Wyse shouted commands in her cold, clear voice. Annabeth Chase threw herself at her mother with her eyes blazing. She was angry—angrier than I'd seen anyone in a long, long while—and she was an expert in combat. They all were. It was like they were an army, all trained for one purpose… whatever that purpose was. Maybe Dr. Wyse _was_ building an army of powerful teenagers with unstable minds. It would be a smart move. If she had the trigger for each one of them, she could use it against her enemies.

"Jason!" Piper yelled, pointing at a blonde doctor with blue eyes—Dr. Solace, I thought. Why was the name so familiar? "Jason, go!"

I stared at her. Was she asking me to hurt him, to use my 'talents' to hurt another human being? No. I wouldn't do it. But her voice… It was so persuasive and beautiful… How could I ever refuse?

"Jason, just do it!" The voice was Percy Jackson's. He glared at me with hate and anger in his eyes and something snapped in me. I thrust my palm towards the doctor and electricity shot at him. He fell, convulsing, and then stopped moving altogether. Oh my gods. What had I done? Was he dead? Had I just _killed_ someone?

"Keep going!" Piper shouted. "You're fine! You're fine, okay?"

I kept going because Piper told me to. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to it, just that she told me to. It was kind of scary. It would have been if I'd had any real time to think. But I had no time to think, not if I wanted to live.

"Annabeth!" Percy ordered. "Take Jason and Leo and go get the others! Do it!"

Annabeth Chase grabbed my arm and pulled me down the hall. Leo followed close behind, gripping his machine to his chest. We ran and ran and ran, banging on doors, yelling inspirational words that Annabeth gave us while Leo removed their crystals. Slowly, the hallways sprang to life. We ignored the elevators, instead dashing up and down the gloomy stairs, our feet thundering as our ranks increased.

Rachel Elizabeth Dare was awake when we got to her room, sitting up on the bed, muttering in verse. Her eyes glowed serpent green and she looked horribly thin and pale.

"_Son of the Fire will heal them all  
Wisdom by her daughter's own hand shall fall  
And Lightning's son will break the curse  
While the Oracle remains to recite this verse_."

We didn't have time to listen, so we grabbed her and ran. Leo removed a crystal from her arm, but it was smaller than the others. She wasn't as dangerous or something. Or maybe her powers were just _different_, like she couldn't hurt anyone or something like that.

"Rachel, come on; we've got to go!" Annabeth cried. She grabbed the girl's hand and ran as fast as she could down the hall. "Where are the twins? Where _are_ they?"

Suddenly, she stopped short and looked at a large door with purple windows and a sickening smell of grapes surrounding it. Annabeth kicked it open, yelling angrily. Inside, there were two boys, both about the same age (I presumed they were 'the twins'), and both identical in nearly every way, though one boy had a small birthmark just next to his left eye, something the other did not have. Annabeth ran in, grabbed them, and pulled them out into the hall.

"Castor," she greeted the one with the birthmark. He nodded.

"Annabeth."

"And Pollux." She pointed to the other, who bowed his head. Then, turning to me, she added, "They're kind of quiet. I hope that doesn't unsettle you." The last part was embellished with a cold, menacing smirk. Annabeth Chase didn't give a damn about me, or what I thought. She just wanted to get the hell out of her mother's prison, and I didn't blame her for that.

"I don't mind," I said. "Let's keep going."

With a glare, Annabeth turned and started shouting commands in her clear, cold voice. My face flushed sheepishly. If I wanted to get free, I was going to have to follow Annabeth's lead, not mine. She was the telepath, not me, and I was pretty sure she could hear my insubordination in my very thoughts. As if to confirm this, she nodded, sneering.

"I can," was the simple reply. "Come on, all of you. Grab Valdez and let's go."

As two tall, brown-haired boys (brothers, most likely) grabbed Leo, he protested, struggling to throw them off, though he was too weak. His fists made no difference in his fate.

"My _tía_ says to let me go!" Leo Valdez shouted. "Let me _go_!"

Fire burst from his hands and the other boys scrambled back. It hit me then what a bad idea this was. These kids were wild, insane, unstable. And I had helped them regain their full power, their full capacity to _kill_. Leo Valdez could light himself on fire, Percy Jackson controlled water, and Annabeth Chase read minds. What had I done? What on Earth had I done? I had to keep those thoughts quiet, though, in hopes that Annabeth Chase would not find them.

We ran down another hall, up another flight of stairs and through a dark, empty room. As we rounded he corner or yet another long, dark hallway, I found myself staring at a face I hadn't seen in nearly a week. Frank Zhang, his hair still cropped next to his head, his eyes narrowed dangerously. His jaw was square and set, but I couldn't bring myself to think of him as menacing. He was my friend, and he always had been since we were kids. When we were five, Frank had been afraid of the dark, and I had promised to provide some light. That was when we discovered my lightning. From then on, we stuck together. Now he was glaring at me like nothing would please him more than seeing me gutted.

"Frank," I said. "Frank, I can explain. Just let me—"

"No, Jason." Frank's eyes were cold, yet somehow blank, void of emotion or purpose. "Dr. Wyse told me everything. What you've done is unacceptable, and I'm taking you in. _All_ of you."

With robotic movements, he advanced towards us, his eyes still fixed and glazed. I don't know what happened, but I let him grab my wrists and start dragging me away. Behind me, I heard voices crying out in shock as an invisible force propelled them forward. Whatever Frank could do before, it was much stronger. Unless w could get him on our side, we were doomed.

"I'm sorry," I heard Annabeth murmur. "I tried so hard, and I've failed you all."

And then a fist slammed into my forehead and the world went black.

**A/N: Yes. I did it. I made Frank "evil." However, there are some clues there as to ****_why_**** he's doing what he's doing. See if you can guess!**

**Suggestions? Questions, comments, concerns?**


	10. Chapter 10

I woke up in another white room. This one had no windows, and a barred, bolted door. No matter what I thought of to try, I knew deep down that none of it would work. The other kids were there too, the ones I'd been running with, Percy, Nico… This was all my fault. Well, not really, but it kind of was. If I hadn't gotten so curious, then maybe they wouldn't have tried to escape. And if I'd just listened to him, then maybe Frank wouldn't have been pacing in front of me, his arms crossed over his chest. I tried to get up, but he stopped me with a single gesture. His eyes were still staring and blank.

"Frank?" I called. He didn't look at me. "Frank, you don't have to do this. Help us, Frank."

He turned to face me. "Shut up, Jason." His voice was stiff and the words were stilted, but I knew I'd hit a nerve.

"Frank, I don't know what they've done to you, but I know _you_. You're Frank Zhang. You're the nicest guy I know, and you don't take this kind of crap from anybody! What's happening, buddy?"

Hazel Levesque, who I had not noticed until this point, stood up and spoke in a timid, quavering voice. Her hands shook too, but her golden eyes gleamed with determination. Despite her shivering, she managed to speak clearly, with all her intentions laid out plainly in front of her.

"I don't know y-you, b-but I-I'm willing to b-believe that you're a good p-person. I like your looks," she added timidly. "And you were kind when you r-rescued me in the hall."

I didn't remember rescuing her, but I knew she was delusional. She probably remembered it differently than I did. Frank's expression didn't change, but he stood still. Hazel inched forward.

"See?" she murmured. "It's not so bad. You're one of us n-now, no matter what Dr. Wyse s-s-says. Don't fight it, okay? You c-can't fight it."

Her fingers brushed Frank's elbow, which cracked back against her skull, sending her flying. In an instant, Nico di Angelo was on his feet. He thrust his hands out, trying to bring the shadows in around him, but he couldn't. The room we were in seemed to dampen any attempt at using our powers. Only Frank remained immune. Nico fell to his knees, breathing heavily, sweat beading on his pale forehead.

"What did they do to us?" he gasped, clutching his throat with his hands, gagging and coughing. "What did _you_ do to us?"

Frank's eyes narrowed. "I didn't do anything." He looked genuinely confused for a moment before his expression hardened. "Shut up."

Nico stumbled up from the floor, steadying himself against a wall. His legs were shaking, and he was very, very pale. His eyes were dull, an early sign of illness I failed to recognize. His lips were dry and cracked, a chalky-looking pink color spotted with blood both fresh and dry. He was very sick, only I didn't realize it then. As he struggled to stand, blood trickled down his chin like a tiny stream.

"Make me." He walked right up to Frank and spit in his face. Red blood splattered across Frank's skin. He wiped it away, regarding Nico with disgust. I didn't blame him. Even just imagining having blood spit in my face was gross. I couldn't even begin to think what it would be like to _really_ have blood spit in my face.

Unfortunately for Nico, Frank was wiling to take that challenge. His arm swung out and Nico went flying into the back wall. His head cracked against it and he crumpled to the ground. That was the final straw. With an angry shout, Annabeth threw herself at Frank, ducking his arm and landing a solid kick to his ribs. Frank clutched his side in pain as he swung at Annabeth again. She caught his arm and flipped him over her shoulder as Percy Jackson ran to her aid.

"Back off!" she screamed. "I've got this!"

Percy laughed. "Yeah, but I'm not passing up an opportunity to kick his ass."

I was half tempted to join them, but I couldn't risk Frank hating me for the rest of our lives. He was my best friend, even if he was being controlled somehow.

After a while—maybe an hour or so—a quiet voice spoke from behind me. "Why did you do it?" he asked. I turned to the voice's owner, a frail boy with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Do what?"

He shuddered, rubbing his arms as if he were cold. "You killed him," he whispered. "The doctor."

"Dr. Solace?" My head was reeling a bit, but I wasn't sure why. "What are you getting at?"

The boy shivered again. "My name is Will Solace," he said. "That was… that was my dad."

Another guy stepped forward, pulling Will aside. Malcolm, I remembered. Then I realized something horrible. He looked a hell of a lot like Annabeth Chase. They had the same grey eyes, the same blonde curls and the same cold smile. Except… Malcolm didn't look as cold as Annabeth. He didn't look warm and cuddly, or like a guy I'd want to be friends with, but he wasn't as severe as Annabeth. It struck me that they _had_ to be siblings. As if he had read my mind, Malcolm said,

"So, I guess you're figuring it out, aren't you?"

"Figuring _what_ out?" I shot back. This only made Malcolm laugh, his smile twisting strangely.

"That we're here because our parents put us here. Do you think _any_ of us would have the powers we do if not for them? Do you think I _want_ to be smarter than the whole _planet_?" He thought about it for a second. "Well, yes I do, but I don't want that because my _mother_ engineered me to be. I can read you like a book, Jason, but I'm a robot. I'm a robot that's programmed to read things until it shuts down. I've got everything memorized and it's a _curse_. I can't forget anything, not a single moment of my life. All the pain I've ever felt is as fresh as ever and I can't get rid of those memories. I don't know about Will here, but _I_ wouldn't mind killing my mother."

"Nor would I," said Nico. "My father, I mean. He's always treated me like dirt, and I wouldn't mind you sticking a dagger in Dr. Wyse's chest. Or maybe poisoning her really slowly and painfully. That would be dear sweet revenge."

He frightened me. I admit that without shame, without a qualm. Nico di Angelo terrified me. He was frightening and deadly. Only a fool would not be afraid of Nico di Angelo.

"You want revenge?" Annabeth cooed. "Against _my_ mother? Well then, I'd be happy to oblige."

I shook my head to clear it. "Please," I said. "I need to understand. Can you help me understand?"

Annabeth leaned back on her heels, sighing. For a while, she looked me up and down, as if analyzing my worth. Then she nodded.

"All right. You want the truth? Let me give it to you plain and simple. You won't like it." Her eyes got far off as she told the story. "Our parents are doctors, scientists, yes? They have knowledge of powers you couldn't hope to grasp in your wildest dreams. Their minds are sanctuaries for the darkest secrets this world has ever known. Do you believe me?" She didn't wait for a response. "Sure you do… You _have_ to. Anyways, they did this to us. My mother, before I was born, nourished me with chemicals and lies. She practiced meditations and took all kinds of medicines to make sure I would be born with a 'gift.' When I was born, she would think at me constantly, and put her horrible schemes into my food and drink. When I turned seven, I realized I could read minds. Before, there had been a static sound, but then there was clear thought—but it wasn't mine. It drove me mad."

Nico di Angelo moved to stand next to her, supporting himself against the wall, trembling. Speaking seemed to take its toll on him now, even more than using his powers.

"My father did the same thing. He told my mother he was doing good, that I would be a special child. He had done the same with my sister, only she was sweet, unable to harm a soul. So he planted a malice in me, one that I cannot hope to shake. The things he gave my mother 'for her health' were really just poisons for _me._ I was born and he left. My mother died when I was ten. That's when I discovered what I could do. That's how I killed that boy at the orphanage. They caught me because I was too weak to use the darkness. I beat him to death with a bone I summoned from the walls. Bianca told me to do it, see?"

Piper told her story next, and it was equally chilling, maybe more so. Dr. Wyse had _forced_ her mother to 'gift' Piper with her charming voice and beautiful face. She had threatened her with death, losing her job, everything. Then, finally, she threatened to kill _Piper_. Dr. Lovelace could do nothing but watch as her daughter grew more and more beautiful, more an more charming. Eventually, Dr. Wyse realized she had to silence Piper. She tried to cut out the girl's tongue, but a new one grew in its place, this one impossibly _more_ articulate and charming. Eventually, she turned to pain, blocking the power with everything it took. Piper McLean was broken.

The next story came from none other than Percy Jackson.

"My father hates Dr. Wyse," he explained. "He was miserable when I was born. That's why he had me. He gave me the powers of the sea in hopes that I could cheer him up. He loves the sea, my dad does. He wanted me to share that. But he left my mother and I for the sea when I was very small. She suppressed the powers I had because she was afraid. I didn't know I had them, but there were voices in my head. I could hear so much, and it wasn't good. Slowly, the voices taught me to hate and fear everything, especially Paul. So I killed him and the rest of my family too. I don't remember doing it. There was noise in my head. It-it blocked out everything else until I couldn't see or hear a thing. When it stopped, I was kneeling over my head in water and they were dead. Now I'm here."

The other stories were similar. Dr. Solace was the only one who really seemed to be good. He had gifted his children with love of music and great talent for it because he wanted them to find joy in it. He had granted them healing capacity because he hoped they could heal the world. He sharpened their eyes to find what was right, including the right path of an arrow. He seemed so warm, so loving, and he spent time with each one of his five children individually and together, helping them to his full capacity. Eventually, though, Dr. Wyse got her hands on them. She hid them away from the sun that nourished them, making them sickly and pale. I couldn't imagine anyone being cruel enough to do that to anyone. Of course, I knew the answer to that. Dr. Wyse. She was calculating and unfeeling, the perfect thinker.

"Come on," I said, studying Frank as he paced, looking for a weak spot. "We're getting out of here."

**A/N: Yes. This was a long chapter. Enjoy!**

**Suggestions? I'd love to hear them! Please tell me what you think in the reviews, and I promise I'll update more if I can. I just kind of need some more inspiration... If you have ideas, please, please let me know. **


End file.
